feature bloat, feature detox
Just because we can, doesn't mean we should. Right?
As we build a product I'm constantly having moments of "should we do that, too?" I see competing products and feel like we're missing a key ingredient that they already have.
Or I look at the products I use every day and think, I wish it also did "X".
But the more time I spend with these thoughts, the more they feel like a trap. Because those same products that seem to do everything are not lasting.
Feature bloat
The Swiss Army Knife approach to building products and services seems to go wrong more often than it goes right.
There are a few reasons:
Breadth over depth. Adding features means spreading time, attention, and expertise across wide areas. None of which may get the attention they deserve.
No focus. What problem do you solve? Maybe it's just me, but I like it when it's obvious what an app or a tool can do for me. When I want to cut something, a simple knife is what I want.
Feature Detox
Feature detox is all about focusing on what matters. The goal isn’t to see how many things we can get our product to do. It's to make sure it does a few things exceptionally well.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of adding “one more feature.” It might look good on paper or match a competitor. But each extra piece means more for users to learn, more for us to maintain, and more potential for losing sight of what makes us unique.
Look to companies like Apple and 37Signals for examples. Steve Jobs made a now famous move of cutting most of Apple's product line when he retook control of the company. Then he went to work on the features.
37Signals' Basecamp project management tool looks busy with a lot of features, but many of them were once standalone products. Each one with a focus on doing one job well. Basecamp feels like it may be the counter-argument to this feature detox idea. But when I look at each 'feature' I see a well thought out, focused product.
The next time I ask, “should we add this?” I’ll also ask, “will this make the product better or just bigger?” Sometimes, less is more.
Delete feature
Elon's (you know, Elon) design process includes deleting things. So much so that he says:
If you’re not adding things back in at least 10% of the time, you’re clearly not deleting enough.
A few ways to find things to delete:
Talk to customers about what they do and don't use
Delete something and see if anyone complains about it
Look at product data to prove what people do and don't use
Some companies can build amazing, complex, multi-functional products that meet a lot of needs. For the rest of us, solving one problem really well is where it's at.
In the words of Marie Kondo, "Does it spark joy?"
Peter
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